Mumbai, Oct. 27 (ANI): Saying that Bihar is on alert, Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde on Sunday confirmed that five people have been killed in the serial blasts of Patna, which occurred ahead of Bharatiya Janata Party's Prime Ministerial aspirant Narendra Modi's rally at Gandhi Maidan today.

Shinde also confirmed that National Security Guards (NSG) have been sent to Patna via a special aircraft, in addition to a team of National Investigation Agency (NIA), who have been sent to assist the Bihar Police in further investigations.

"In the blasts, five people have died and 72 people have been injured. I am in touch with the Bihar Government and the Bihar Chief Minister (Nitish Kumar). I have taken the information from them and they have said that they are on alert," Shinde said.

"Before the (BJP) rally, near the (railway) station, there was a blast around 9:30 a.m. and after that there were five blasts in and around Gandhi Maidan," he confirmed.

According to media reports, one person, who has admitted to the crime, has been arrested in connection with the serial low intensity blasts in Patna today.

Earlier today, Minister of State for Home RPN Singh condemned the serial blasts in Patna, and assured the center's full support to the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government to probe into the incident.

"We have assured the government in Bihar that we will provide all assistance in investigating the matter," Singh said.

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh also spoke to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and asked him to speedily investigate the blasts and punish the perpetrators responsible for the incident.

Dr. Singh condemned the blasts and appealed to the people to maintain peace and calm.

He also assured Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of all central assistance in the investigations.

The serial blasts did not deter the BJP from going on with their 'Hankar' rally, which took place at Gandhi Maidan earlier today despite the low-level explosions. (ANI)